Farewell, Fair Cruelty
by QueenDromeda
Summary: There was something about her that seemed to be scrubbed raw until it gave the illusion of newness; she wasn't the same as she was before. - Past Bill/Audrey


He met her outside in the garden after a family dinner of feigned first meetings and the pleasant smiles hesitant acquaintances make upon being thrust into a meeting. She sat on the fence, behind his father's shed, that wrapped around the vegetable garden. Her legs were swinging underneath the long skirt she wore, her hair blowing back in the wind.

She smelt like cigarettes and cinnamon. Her heart beat a little faster when she heard him approach, her fingers bunching up the thin material of her skirt. There was something about her that seemed to be scrubbed raw until it gave the illusion of newness; she wasn't the same as she was before. She was softer now, delicate like an easily bruised flower petal.

"Audrey," He stated, settling onto the wooden fence with her.

She tilted her head to the side in acknowledgement, her spider-like eyelashes casting shadows down her face in the starlight. Her fingers loosened their hold on the skirt, smoothing down the wrinkled material in an absentminded gesture.

It was odd how something so simple made him so infuriated. The women he knew would never care about the state of her clothes, let alone wear a skirt. He bit back a snarl, his more lupine traits showing through this close to the full moon.

"What happened to you?" He asked, his frustration and confusion and need all bleeding into the question.

She took a breath, moved a strand of auburn hair out of her face, and spoke. Her voice wasn't as precise and punctuated as it was at dinner, now it was thicker and her words lilted with an unplaceable accent that sounded like a field of wildflowers personified, "What happened to all of us"

He frowned, "Growing up, you mean?"

The corner of her lip raised up in amusement, like his answer humored her, and he was reminded of the old Audrey who'd do the same thing before slapping his hand and shaking her head. She turned to face him, and he was once again entranced by the plane's of her cheeks, the sharp rise of her cheekbones, and the small raise of her cupid's bow.

"I suppose it's partially an effect of growing up," She admitted, her voice docile like it had been throughout dinner.

His eyes slitted, the blue color faint and pale in the dark, and his fingers found themselves digging into the wood of the fence. A hiss escaped his mouth in frustration over the situation. He ran his boot over the ground roughly, making dirt rise in small plumes and creating more noise than necessary among the chirping insects.

She seemed utterly unaffected though, a bored curiosity flickering in her eyes, her lips pressed together. Audrey stared at him for a few moments, her hazel eyes urging him to look at her, before turning away. Her legs kept swinging, ruffling the material of her skirt.

"What the hell Audrey? Why won't you tell me what happened to you?" He was probably being louder than he should have been, but the Burrow was far enough away to be nothing but background noise.

Clicking her tongue, she let out long suffering sigh before falling silent. For a long time she just sat, saying nothing; she was quiet for so long he thought she'd begun to ignore him or the question, unwilling to face whatever the answer implied. When she did speak the unplaceable accent was back, and her voice soft and lyrical, like a storytellers.

"Do you remember when you left?" Was how she started, and despite being addressed, he didn't say reply, "I remember it very well; well enough for both of us, I suppose. You were 26, very handsome and charming, and I was 21. It's strange to think that I was that young, that new to world."

Audrey smiled slightly, lips curling and teeth showing, "I was very happy with you; in fact, I thought myself in love with you. I imagined that we would get a flat and I'd get that job as a tattoo artist that I'd been wanting forever while you worked free lance around Diagon Alley. Then you took me out to coffee, in that little muggle hole-in-the-wall restaurant, you know the one that was selling marijuana from the kitchen?"

He felt a small pang, because he did remember the cafe. It was one of his favorite dives to frequent because of the 24/7 service and low prices. It'd been years since he's been there, in a dusty booth, the smell of mint almost overwhelmingly strong to hide other, more illegal smells.

"You took me out and ordered me a coffee, black and no sugar just the way I like it, and looked at me with complete seriousness. I remember thinking it was odd, because you always acted so light hearted, but I brushed it off," She gave a bitter laugh, and he almost wished for her dinner voice over her terribly serene and harsh tone.

"I sipped on my coffee, and then you told me. Why you thought telling me that you were leaving for Egypt, alone, in an hour was a good idea, I have no clue. All I know is how I felt after you said it," She took a breath, "I thought that it was my fault. That someone my personality or appearance turned you off. It took me ages to feel good about myself again; ages."

They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Audrey tilted her head to the stars, basking in the light with her eyes closed. There was a shriek like sound from the direction of the Burrow followed by raucous laughter. He swallowed loudly enough for her to flash open her eyes, though she kept then upturned.

"I'm sorry," He offered simply, honestly.

"For which part?" She asked, her face looking hauntingly gaunt in the odd lighting.

After a beat he answered, "For everything. I'm sorry that I left you the way I did, with broken aspirations. I'm sorry that I made you feel so downtrodden and worthless. I'm sorry that I caused you to change so much."

She snapped her head towards him again, an expression that could only be described as anger spread across her features, "You're not the reason I changed; if what I did constitutes as change at all. If anything I _grew_ from being a girl with no life plans that were simply for me and from a girl with no idea how my actions affected others into a better person. If you believe anything else you are wrong."

He nearly smiled, she did have the same temperament it seemed, but he couldn't comprehend the newness of her. It felt odd and it felt wrong. Facing away from her, he asked, "And what about Percy? Even with the new you where does he fit in with this?"

Audrey closed her eyes, and when she spoke she was calm again, "Bill Weasley, if you don't accept that I am not the wild child I was when we were together than I will not have the conversation."

He swallowed, "It's not that I don't accept it, but it's hard for me to understand. Whenever I imagined meeting you again you were ageless, exactly the same as you were when I left, but now everything about you is different from your voice to your clothing; good Lord you're even wearing a skirt."

"Things change," She said, fingering the fabric that lay underneath her fingers, "If it lays your worries to rest I only make my voice like that when I first meet new people; it's a defense mechanism."

It didn't really make him feel better but it was the thought that counted in the end. He took a deep breath enjoying the burn the crisp air face gave to his lungs, and the fog that puffed out of his lips like smoke, when he exhaled. Audrey was looking at him, searching for something in his face; something she found quickly, it seemed when she turned away.

"So," He prompted, "What about Percy?"

Before she could answer, his aforementioned was heard giving a shout towards them, as he walked from the Burrow to the garden, "Audrey!"

"I'm here!" She shouted, her hair flying about in the breeze. She turned towards him, a small frown on her lips, "I met Percy smoking outside of a bar in the seediest neighborhood you could find, in the middle of the war. Maybe instead of worrying how your old girlfriend changed, you should worry about how your family has been handling themselves."

With that she jumped off the fence, her skirt swinging around her ankles as she walked towards Percy. He was staring after her in bemusement, all anger previously in him dissipated and replaced with contentment. He mulled over her advice, looking at her reunion with her brother when he noticed that her shoes were the same type of sneakers that she wore before their breakup.

He smiled.

o0o

For the Multi-Ship Challenge with Bill/Audrey.


End file.
